Hermann Emil Alfred Max Trapp (November 1, 1887 – May 31, 1971) was a
German composer and teacher. A prestigious figure in the Berlin cultural scene during the 1930s,[1] Trapp, amongst others in the Nazi-influenced scene, was regularly invited to contribute to concert programs and competitions.[2]
Trapp was born in
Berlin and attended the
Berlin Hochschule für Musik (now the Berlin University of the Arts) where he studied under
Paul Juon and
Ernő Dohnányi. After the completion of his studies, he did not have regular employment and worked as an itinerant
pianist. In 1920, however, he obtained a post as lecturer at the Berlin conservatoire, becoming a professor there in 1926. His best-known pupils include
Josef Tal,
Saburō Moroi and
Günter Raphael.
Between 1926 and 1930, Trapp offered a master class in composition at the music conservatoire in
Dortmund. In 1932 he joined the
NSDAP.[3] In June 1933, Trapp joined the
Nazi movement through an "Appeal to the Creative" (Appell an die Schaffenden). In 1934, he stepped down from the Berlin conservatoire and became the director of a masterclass in composition at the
Berlin Academy of Arts (since merged with the University of the Arts). Here from 1936 until 1939 he taught
Sophie Carmen Eckhardt-Gramatté.[4]
In 1940, Trapp received the national composition prize.[5] From 1950 to 1953, he was a teacher at Berlin's Städtischen Konservatorium.[6]
He died at the age of 83 in Berlin.
Works
Heavily influenced by
Richard Strauss and
Max Reger, Trapp composed
orchestral,
chamber and piano works, including seven
symphonies,[7] as well as
choral and theatre music. While his music was fairly widely performed through the 1940s, it has rarely been performed since.
^Grove 6 article by William D. Gudger. Symphonies in D, opus 8, unpublished; B minor, opus 15; opus 20, unpublished, ca. 1925; B♭ minor, opus 24, 1928; no. 5 in F, op. 33 of 1937; no. 6 in B♭ op. 45; and no. 7 in A major, op. 55 (though unpublished). Also among his other works there are several concertos - violin (Op.21 in A minor), cello (Op.34), piano and 3 for orchestra without soloist - and a fair amount of chamber music including an early
piano quintet (opus 3, published by Steingräber-Verlag of Leipzig in 1912, see
OCLC875303073), string quartet (opus 22, published 1935- see
HMB), and at least three
piano quartets (the third, Op.31 also published 1935 - see
OCLC165409990 &
HMB. ) Some further information on his orchestral music can be found
here.